27824 - History and Media (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student possesses a professionalism related to the use of different types of media in the forms of representation,popularization, and narration of history. S/he knows how to use media (iconographic, artistic, photocinematographic images, artistic and sound documents, architectural and urban testimonies) as historical sources; S/he is aware that media are tools for understanding a representation, and periods of different representation, of historical events; S/he knows how to recognize the contribution of media in contemporary languages of historical narration, with particular attention to museum and exhibition itineraries, documentary and fiction programs in film and television, and computer and interactive projects.

Course contents

A general introductory and methodological part on the forms of narration of history through the media, with special attention to Contemporary History and some of its events and historical periods: how they have been narrated by the media, in their contemporaneity thanks to photography, documentary, museography and monumentalism; and subsequently elaborated, thanks to the forms of celebration and national and international public memory, with special attention to Italy, France, Germany and the United States. In this context, civilian monumentalism, as a form of narrative of official national history, and the celebratory acts, contestations, counter-narratives and iconoclasm that accompany them; and the "places of memory" of national histories are examined.

This year the course will focus on the narratives of twentieth-century Italian history through the work of some Italian film makers. A selection of directors (Francesco Rosi, Scola, Bertolucci, Rossellini, De Sica, Lizzani, Taviani, Zampa, Bellocchio, Taviani, Monicelli, Diritti, etc.) and their works interpreting moments of contemporary Italy will be presented and analyzed.

FIRST CLASS ON SEPTEMBER 25th AT 5pm

Readings/Bibliography

F. Focardi e di B. Groppo, a cura di, "L'Europa e le sue memorie. Politiche e culture del ricordo dopo l'89" , Viella, Roma, 2013 (Saggi di Dogliani e Focardi ed uno scelta).

Maurizio Zinni, Fascisti di celluloide. La memoria del ventennio nel cinema italiano, 1945-2000, Marsilio, 2010.

Olivier Wieviorka, Storia della Resistenza nell'Europa occidentale, 1940-1945, Einaudi, 2018

Claudio Pavone, Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità nella Resistenza, Bollati Boringhieri, 1991 (evalable for 2 readings).

Massimo Baioni, Vedere per credere. Il racconto museale dell'Italia unita, Viella, 2020

David Forgacs, Messaggi di sangue. La violenza nella storia d’Italia, Laterza, 2020

Enrico Gaudenzi, La Grande Guerra dei registi. La prima guerra mondiale tra narrazioni e censure, Clueb, 2017

Patrizia Dogliani, Tra guerra e pace. Memoria e rappresentazione dei conflitti e dell'Olocausto nell'Occidente contemporaneo, Unicopli, 2001

Joanna Bourke. Le seduzioni della guerra. Miti e storie di soldati in battaglia, Carocci, 2001

Fiammetta Lussana, Cinema educatore. L'Istituto Luce dal fascismo alla liberazione (1924-1945), Carocci, 2018.

Emilio Gentile, Fascismo di pietra, Laterza 2007

Emilio Gentile, Il culto del Littorio, Laterza

Filippo Focardi, La guerra della memoria. La Resistenza nel dibattito politico italiano dal 1945 ad oggi, Laterza, 2005.

Natalie Zemond Davis, La storia al cinema, Viella 2007.

Susan Sontag, Davanti al dolore degli altri, Mondadori, 2003

S. Gundle- Ch. Duggan-G. Pieri, The cult of the Duce. Mussolini and the Italians, Manchester University Press, 2013

Albanese-Ceci ( a cura di) I luoghi del fascismo, Viella 2022

Arnaldo Testi, I fastidi della storia, il Mulino, 2023

All or part  of these readings can be changed into articles or books in other languages, by foreign students, on the teacher's advice

Teaching methods

Lessons, seminars, groups of study, vision of movies in class.

Assessment methods

Written (preparation of a paper) and oral test for attending and non-attending students, according to separate modalities.

A student who attends at least 75% of the lectures is considered to be attending.

Therefore, those who have participated in at least 24 out of 30 hours of the course, thus if they have not been absent from more than two lectures, are considered frequent attendees.

Attendance in the course is strongly recommended in order to understand the methodology of the course and to pass the final examination, which consists of the preparation of a written paper and its discussion with the lecturer.

For all: the paper must consist of an average of 15 printed pages (each page of 2,000/2200 characters).

For those attending, the required paper is on the topics covered in the course: in the first part, the examinee shows an understanding of the methodology, thus the relationship between history and memory and between history and its narration. The second part consists of a case study.

The topic of the paper must ALWAYS be agreed in advance with the lecturer and the text must be submitted for reading at least 3 days before the exam.

Non-attenders, on the other hand, have the commitment of four compulsory reading texts and the viewing of at least 3 films which will be indicated at the beginning of the course. Of the readings and films they will make a reasoned summary which they will discuss later in the oral part of the exam.

Assessment: The student's achievement, in the writing and presentation of the paper, of an organic view of the topics addressed and the knowledge provided for the discipline jointly with their critical use, the demonstration of the possession of a mastery of expression and specific language will be evaluated with grades between 27 and 30.

Knowledge of the subject matter and the ability to synthesize and analyze articulated in correct, but not always appropriate, language will lead to fair evaluations, between 25 and 27. In the case of formative gaps and/or inappropriate language, rated below 25/30, the attending student will be asked to resubmit for the exam. Poor quality of writing and strong formative gaps shown by the non-attending student will be rated between 18 and a maximum of 24 for the non-attending student, with no invitation to resubmit.

Teaching tools

Video and vision of different media

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Dogliani